Hayes Carll

Actually, the date was August 8th, 2012. An old friend had stopped through town, via Spain. We immediately headed to the bar, on a weeknight. The place was nearly empty, friends and a bartender. Others drifted in and out. It was a Wednesday night. We closed down the place.

The bar had a digital calendar clock. Well, we thought it was a digital calendar clock. But then we noticed the year, 1991. It was silly, we started to pretend it was only 1991. Some of us were about to be in deep shit, it was well past midnight. We would be grounded for sure. That evolved into stories about what we were probably doing on that date. Reality set in and we finally figured out that the digital calendar clock was for the bartender. August 8th, 1991 was exactly 21 years before. The legal drinking age.

Twenty One Fucking Years Ago. I am sure, that as long as I exist in this world, the years will continue to fly by. My grandma always tells me the “days are long, but the years go fast”. Jesus. I do not want time to go any faster. Sometimes, I am cursed with a memory. I cannot find my car keys, but I cannot let a scene in time go by. It plays over and over in my head. Haunts me, until I write it down. Express it. Clarity.

The jukebox was playing that night. Here is the song that froze it in time. We all had drinks. Sitting on barstools singing along…so strange to look at faces, faces I love. Faces that explained “existentialism” to me. Faces that I have slept under bridges with. Faces that were the first to hold my newborn baby, so many years ago. These are the faces that I hope will stay with me, I have lost enough…

The strange thing with life is that sometimes, inside you know that a moment is important. The stranger thing is that you won’t ever realize how important. I was blessed in this life with amazing parents, and the best siblings a kid could ask for…4 of the most interesting yet different people. But we groove. We survive. We are there for one another. Always laughing. Positive.

I was blessed in this life with amazing friends. I have never had a problem finding them. They are everywhere. But to have childhood friends, that is such a gift.

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.”
― Richard Bach, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

You lose the physical presence of your friends over the years. Nothing you can do about that. But I have learned, since August to make those moments count. If we are all gonna be here, and we are all gonna survive, let’s go ahead and make it count. Enjoy every sandwich.